European property worth €691m seized from Assad’s uncle Rifaat

The wealth of President Assad’s extended family has been laid bare after customs officers seized properties worth €691 million in the past year.

The properties, said to belong to the president’s uncle, Rifaat Assad, and Rifaat’s children, were chiefly in the Paris region and in Marbella, Spain. The haul ensured a record year for French customs officers who said that they had seized or identified €862 million of criminal assets in 2017, up 477 per cent on the previous year.

French media outlets said the rise had been due to Rifaat Assad’s property empire. It included 503 properties around Marbella, ranging from parking spaces to restaurants, and an estate worth an estimated €50 million. The newspaper Le Figaro said the portfolio was valued at €600…